Graphic Thrills is a wide-ranging over-view of the entire history of the XXX movie scene from 1970 to 1985, it is simultaneously anecdotal, factual, and interview based. It also includes a very detailed and quite lengthy introductory chapter, setting the scene for the posters that follow. Each poster is accompanied by an essay on the film concerned. This is far more than just a poster book, but more a beautifully illustrated history of the genre.

With catchy titles like Carnal Olympics, Ultra Flesh, Insatiable, Deep Throat, and Dominatrix Without Mercy, the 1970s and early '80s were the golden era of the American hardcore sex film. Picking up where the low-budget stag loops and softcore sexploitation pictures left off, this legendary cycle of adult filmmaking was distinguished by both the overall quality of the movies themselves and also the advertising that promoted them. Real movies made by directors with a vision, performed by passionate actors, backed up with genuine plots, drama, and imagination that hit peaks the industry hasn't seen before or since. This was the age of porno chic.

Theatrical film posters, then and now, seduce the public into taking part in a fantasy world. Graphic Thrills proudly assembles a stunning array of these debauched and innuendo-packed one-sheets between its covers, with glorious unabashed sexuality dripping from every page. These joyous and colourful odes to sultry sin hung in the lobbies and front windows of the porno theaters and grindhouses of yesteryear. Lit by neon and shimmering marquee lights, each come-on promised curious patrons lurid drama, kinky excitement, easy love, and a myriad of exotic fantasies come true.

In Graphic Thrills, the epoch of the American XXX movie poster and the no-holes-barred erotica it promised is laid bare and exposed. A writer for New York's infamous Screw magazine and creator of the underground trash film 'zine Cinema Sewer, author Robin Bougie probes the history of these classic films, interviews the people who made them, and provides candid in-depth reviews.

It's time to drop your defences, turn on, and prepare to play dirty... get ready for Graphic Thrills!

Bougie explores the scuzzier side of the cinematic spectrum with wit, insight, and often surprising levels of scholarship and research.- Don Guarisco, www.schlockmania.com

Wallowing through the filth and grime of a world that most dare not tread - at least openly - Robin Bougie has offered up some truly nut-busting moments of gonzo weirdness and cinematic nostalgia over the course of his journalistic career.- Rondal Scott, www.strangekidsclub.com